I'm not as think as you drunk I am
by ScarfAdd
Summary: Akari reflects on her feelings for Chase and she decides she needs a break. Specifically, that break being in the shape of a martini glass. ChasexAkari one-shot!


**Hey guys! ScarfAdd here! Wow, this story came out way later than I hoped, but unfortunately I got a virus! Luckily, I still got it done though(even though it's a bit choppy towards the end), and published. I would like to thank all my readers for reading this and reviewers for reviewing this. Feel free to say what you want and don't even worry about hurting my feelings! ;-P Reviews and Favorites are appreciated but not necessary. Thank you, and enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon! If I did, I would… I don't know, make improvements in some shape or form?**

Chase. Chase. Chase. Even just thinking his name sent her very emotions into a wild, twisted, convoluted spiral. And she hated it! When had one person ever confused her so much? Absolutely never, that's when! She had a strong mixture of agitation, mystification, and attraction towards this man, and that was a problem.

Akari had always been good at reading people. GREAT is actually more like it. Mostly because she grew up in a society full of idiots who thought they were fooling everyone with their façade. And honestly, they were fooling everyone! Everyone was either too stupid or just too self-centered to care whether or not the person they were talking to was the real them or not. So, of course when she moved to an island full of the most humble and honest people ever, it really threw her off. It was such a drastic change from her previous life on the homeland that it took her at least a couple of years to adjust. Akari recently turned 21 years old and has loved her life farming on Castanet. She made a good profit, and she loved her animals.

However, there was one person who made her life complex. He himself was complex as well. Of course it wasn't hard to deduct that he had had some traumatic or perhaps scaring event in his life that made him the way he is. Cynical, listless, apathetic, everything that usually falls under the category of "jerk". Yet, when you were alone with him, he would say the darndest things that perhaps began to make you rethink what you felt towards him. He could even be defined as concerned, determined, loyal, and hopeful, all those being things that fall under the "Hey, he's kind of a good guy!" category. He had himself begun to change his negative nature as well. She heard less of his crude comments and he had become slightly less apathetic. Of course, she doubted he would ever stop being sarcastic, because that seemed to be something that was just embedded in him permanently.

One time, Chase had said something so offensive, so hurtful, that she had even cried. She hid her pain when at the time it had happened, but she was sure he knew he had harmed her, for she saw it in his eyes, the regret, but she continued to pointlessly pretend. Later, in the solitude of her home and her Black Shiba, Rontu, she had cried, holding him close. His words burned inside of her. "Perhaps if you weren't so God damn overbearing, you may actually be likeable, Akari! But then again, you're in possession of so many other horrible qualities that it won't matter if you rid of just one! Could you PLEASE just let me cook for one night without being interrupted by the shrill frequency of your voice?!" She didn't care if he truly meant it or not, it was an awful thing to say. All she had done was talk to him as he was cooking in the bar. She thought later of reasons to why he may have said that. Had it been a bad day? Was he tired of seeing her? She had been talking to him for two continuous seasons and they had even started to get used to each other's company, she thought! She even enjoyed his! He made her laugh and feel good and vice versa! Why had he said that?

That was during the fall and she had avoided him for the remaining season of the year, as she never wanted to talk to him if continued to say such awful things. That season had consisted of chance encounters and awkward glances with Chase, and she had begun to grow sick of it towards the end. So on the second day of Spring, after she had planted the new Seasons' crops, she had marched over to Chase's house, took the key that he hid in a hole of the fence behind his house, and unlocked his door, wanting to have a word with him.

Chase had looked surprised at first, tensing up at the door slamming open, and he stood, his expression softening(although not completely, he was always alert), as he placed his flute down which he had been playing.

"Hey, Akari, long time no see."

She had planned to be angry. Or perhaps even accepting. But once again, she had started to cry. Not because of sadness, but because she had missed him. It wasn't immediate, but it had stopped her from further actions as her slowly overwhelmed her. She ran to him, wrapping her arms around his waist, crying into him. He immediately tensed up, but soon returned the hug, awkwardly, she reasoned, from the lack of physical contact from anyone else, including a parental guardian. Gosh he was skinny. Was he eating? She hoped he was eating. There's no point in being a great chef if you aren't going to eat your own food. It took him a while to say something, and she could tell he was choosing his words carefully.

"Akari… I, uh…. I'm uh, sorry…"

It was the first time she had heard him, or remembered him perhaps, saying sorry. And it was so wonderful. It was like a part of her had been put back together. Like a sculptor had created a wonderful piece of art, but _something _was missing. But then, someone says "This is the piece that's missing!" And voila! She realized that she could never go a month without Chase, or any longer than that, because she needed him. She hadn't realized she had come to rely on his presence in her day, but she had. And that scared her. She had always been fine on her own.

Now, Akari sat on her bed with Rontu, stroking his fur gently. She had been in one of her thinking moods, which meant that she had been thinking about whatever for at least an hour. She originally began thinking about her farm, and how happy she was with it. Her crops were of shining quality and she loved harvesting them. She had bought the watermill property as well, and fertilized the soil over there to produce shining crops. However, thoughts seldom ever stay on one topic.

So she started to think of Chase. He was a good guy, just hurt. She was so confused on her feelings for him. And his feelings for her. She would like to think that he liked her, or that he could at least tolerate her. She had no idea if he liked her platonically or…. No, probably not. She… she hated to admit it, but she knew that she did feel romantic feelings for him. Every time she thought of them, her mind would immediately zip to a different subject. And then she would start thinking about them again, to which she would promptly zip back to something else. She'd had them for a while, even though she didn't admit it back then.

She suddenly exhaled, realizing she needed to get out. Ahh…. Today felt like a good day for a cocktail. She switched her farm clothes with her clean "Pop" outfit, adding a scarf around her neck for the chilly fall weather. She placed Rontu down, telling him she would be out for a couple of hours. She filled his food bowl and took a step outside, making sure to lock the door. Hey, who knows? Maybe a stowaway on Pascal's boat tries to break into her house…? In other words, hobos. Crazy hobos. Sometimes they like to break in! Akari would rather be safe than sorry…

Once Akari stepped outside, she immediately felt the crisp autumn air against her. A gust of wind blew and she shivered. She promptly checked her wristwatch, a gift from her mom, to see if the bar was open. It was, and had been for about an hour and a half. That meant that Chase would be there soon.

She looked around, and ironically saw Chase walking onto her farm from Flute Fields. Once he spotted her, he smirked and waved towards her, flashing a smile as well. She smiled and waved back, jogging over to him.

"Hey, Chase!" Akari said.

"Hey, Akari. What's up?" He asked plainly.

"Well actually I was planning on going to the bar, so I was going to grace you with my presence tonight on the way there." She said with as much elegance she could muster. She glanced at him, smiling. He noticeably picked up his pace, glancing back in a frantic hurry. She laughed and caught up to him, and they began walking normally again.

"You in the mood for shortcake again?" He inquired, since that was what she usually went there for. She loved his shortcake, and he knew it, so he didn't mind making it for her.

"Uh…" Akari chuckled nervously, "Not really, this time. I was kind of in the mood for a cocktail." Her heart sped up, nervous of what he was going to say. She knew that Chase did not advocate drinking, unless used in food. That was why he handled the cooking at the bar and not the drinks. He was not a big fan of the effects of drinking excessively.

His face darkened and his tone lowered. "Akari, don't be an idiot-" He sounded wary. She knew what was coming. Which is why she chose to interrupt him.

"Chase, don't worry. I won't drink too much. I just want a glass, and that's it." She offered a reassuring smile, gently placing her hand on his and giving it a squeeze. He sighed and dropped his hand, giving up.

Two hours later, Akari had had eight glasses of raspberry cocktails. She was screaming along with a drunk Luke and Owen, yelling and laughing obnoxiously at anything and everything that happened. Chase had tried to stop Hayden from giving Akari any more drinks, but unfortunately for Chase, he didn't have the authority to tell him what to do. You can't disobey a customer, after all. The only thing Hayden could do was offer a sympathetic apology as he cleaned the bar's empty glasses.

"So HE asked ME where his mitten was, to which I replied," Luke's voice chortled loudly, and he took another swig of cocktail, "WHO?! Do you need a shoe?!"

Akari and Owen ROARED with laughter. Chase furiously scrubbed dishes, EXTREMELY peeved with Akari. She hadn't listened to him! Once again, she hadn't listened! Why couldn't she just listen…? All he was doing was trying to help… His mom and dad had both died from a drunk driver swerving and crashing straight into them. And it broke his heart to see someone else he loved even begin to take a step in the same path as his parents' accidental killer.

Yes, he loved Akari. He loved her with whatever part of his heart he had left to give. He was awful at expressing it, though, so he felt as though she could not possibly like him romantically due to the way he spoke to her.

Akari had two more glasses and about a thousand more dumb conversations before the bar closed. She said goodbye to Luke and Owen, and they stumbled out the door. She remained at the tables though, giggling like a maniac, head in her arms.

Chase, waiting for her to be alone, took this opportunity to catch her.

"Hey Hayden, I'm finished with my cleaning. I'm going to take Akari home, ok?"

Hayden nodded, "Alright, make sure she gets home safely. Thanks Chase."

He muttered a no problem, grabbed Akari's arm, and tugged her outside. She was giggling immensely and smiling at him witlessly as he walked quickly, but not to forcefully to the bridge connecting Harmonica Town and Akari's farm.

"Akari, what the hell?!" Chase tried not to yell, but it was extremely difficult. Akari immediately got defensive, crossing her arms, not seeing the problem through her clouded thoughts.

"What, Chase?" She blurted, loudly.

"Akari, you told me you weren't going to drink all but a glass!" Chase's voice was rising.

"Well y-you don't n-need to be all up in my business, Chase! I-I can drink if I want to now! I am of RESPONSIBLE age and I c-can handle anything I dish out!" She sputtered.

"NO, Akari, you CAN'T! You can hardly even walk in a straight line!" Chase was beginning to sound desperate, and that was simply because, he was.

"Oh my GOD, Chase, who CARES?! I-I feel free, Chase! For once my thoughts aren't pushing back into doubts and suspicions and fear because I c-can't feel it! Who CARES, Ch—"

"I CARE, AKARI!" Chase was screaming. "I DON'T WANT TO LOSE YOU!"

All of Castanet was silent. Chase was breathing heavily. Akari had been stunned into silence as she looked upon Chase with wide eyes. Chase was looking away, angry and upset, panting.

"C'mon," he mumbled, "I'm taking you home."

Akari complied, as Chase carefully took her hand and lead her in the right direction to home. He tried opening the door, but it was locked. Akari nervously laughed.

"H-Haha… hobos…"

She scrambled around for her keys, finding them in her pocket, to where she fumbled with sticking them in the lock. She got it, turned it, and it clicked open. Chase turned the nob, and let her go in first, closing the door once he was inside.

He sat Akari on her bed and told her to go to sleep. She was not tired, but she did not want to make Chase any angrier than he may be. She lay down and a couple minutes later her lights turned off, and the door outside opened and closed. There was a slight hesitancy in the closing of the door, or at least she thought, but soon afterwards, she fell asleep.

Akari awoke to the smell of coffee and cakes. Pancakes, maybe? She sat upright in bed, agonizing pain in her head as she sat up. She inhaled sharply and grasped her head, closing her eyes tight. The lights in her home were on and she heard the sound of someone flipping the, presumably, pancakes.

She tried opening her eyes, fluttering about, until she recognized the peach head.

"Chase?"

She tried to remember what had happened last night, but her headache and sick stomach told her hangover.

"Hey, Akari."

His voice brought back memories from the previous night, and they came flooding back hard. Her face flushed RED, as she looked under the covers at her same clothes. That just confirmed everything for her. She hadn't changed because Chase had taken her home to where she promptly fell asleep. She groaned into her hands, hiding her embarrassment, and perhaps to hide her hung-over face, which she imagined must've looked awful.

He chuckled. "I assume you slept well?"

Akari groaned again. "Chase I am soooo sorry…"

Chase could hear the guilt in her voice but was still stiff in his decision.

"Akari…" he was getting ready to talk, and she was ready to listen. He moved the food, which was not pancakes, onto a large platter, grabbed a fork, and walked over to her, placing the platter on her lap. She regretfully looked down at the food, grabbing the fork but not doing anything with it. More using it as a safe place, as if the fork could take her out of this mess. She looked at the bowlish looking breakfast pancake thingy. Chase stood above her, watching her.

"What is this?" Akari asked, not trying to change the subject, just curious.

"A Dutch Baby."

"What's that—"

"It's like a pancake, except made with more eggs. Just eat it Akari, that's not important right now."

Akari cut into it with her fork.

"Ok Akari, so I'm assuming that by your earlier groan that you happened to remember what happened yesterday with your cocktails and whatnot."

Akari nodded, eating the Dutch baby. Wow, it was good. It was like a pancake, except… with more eggs. It had a lemon glaze on top of it too. Chase was so good.

"Akari…I do care about you."

She stopped eating and looked up at him.

"And… I don't want you to ruin yourself. I worry about you a lot and though you may not be able to tell—"

Akari had stopped paying attention to what he was saying. Something changed right then, something in the atmosphere, and she felt it. It felt heavy. And it made her heart swell. Chase cared about her. She swung her legs out from under her covers. Chase stopped rambling and looked down at her. He felt it too then, looking into her eyes. Akari stood up.

Chase blinked at her. He took a step closer, involuntary, and cupped her face in his hand. He looked at her eyes, rather into, looking for a sign of romantic emotion. He found one, and once he did, he began to tilt his head, as she did her, to where their lips brushed lightly against each other's. Akari pressed against him a couple seconds later, to where he deepened their kiss.

When they broke apart, Chase looked at her, wide-eyed. Akari's expression mimicked his.

"Was that just…?" Chase asked.

"Uhm… yeah…?" Akari answered awkwardly.

They stared at each other a couple of silent seconds more, before they briefly continued what they left off doing moments earlier.


End file.
